Months ago, I joked that Bobby Jindal was not running for President, but rather for Pat Robertson’s job as host of The 700 Club. Lamar’s piece has made me believe the concept underlying my joke may, in reality, be at the core of Bobby Jindal’s ostensible campaign for President.

The 700 Club takes its name from a Pat Robertson telethon in 1963 to energize and support a fledgling religious broadcasting station via pledges of $10 per month by 700 people. From this humble beginning, an empire emerged.

Though started by Robertson, the first permanent host of The 700 Club was Jim Bakker who, along with his wife Tammy Faye, later created the hugely (albeit temporarily) successful PTL Club. I became fascinated with Jim and Tammy Bakker in the early 1980s. It was absolutely amazing to me that they could rake in enough money through their television “ministry” to support lives of open excess and build the 3rd largest theme park in the United States, Heritage USA. Not only were they able to achieve personal wealth, they put many old line preachers, gospel singers and others to work.

Ultimately, Bakker was the victim of his own greed and corruption, as were his followers. He did a stint in federal prison on fraud and conspiracy convictions. This followed the exposure of his affair with (or rape of) a church secretary, Jessica Hahn, who later appeared nude in Playboy. But, I digress.

Bakker is out of prison now and he and his new wife host a millennial/survivalist themed televangelism program broadcast on a couple of Christian television networks. They now live on a 600 acre property near Branson and are apparently doing pretty well despite the rumor Bakker still owes millions to the IRS.

A former Baptist minister, Pat Robertson is now more a politician and conservative commentator than televangelist. He clearly makes a good living from The 700 Club and other enterprises by appealing to a loyal group of supporters. He has founded several large organizations, including the Christian Broadcasting Network, the ABC Family Channel and Regents University. He makes money. His employees make money. His viewers get reinforcement for their beliefs. Though his politics are extreme, he is apparently not engaging in illegal activities like his former protégé’ Bakker. He fought hard for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1988, no doubt broadening his base of support in the process.

Whether he has tanked or not, Bobby Jindal and his handlers have made a lot of money from his supposed Presidential aspirations. He has become phenomenally well-known and is developing a base of devout supporters around the country. Could it be that he and his inner circle are achieving their real goals even as we speak? Governor Jindal has proven, via stunt after stunt, that gaining as much attention as possible is at the forefront of his interests. Timmy Teepell and others have made good money engendering that attention and acting as Jindal’s sycophants.

The type of things we may consider stunts made Jim Bakker a multi-millionaire. He blew it, but, incredibly may be on his way back. Robertson endures and makes radical proclamations regularly. You may remember he implied Katrina could be God’s retribution for America’s abortion policy and was possibly tied in some way to 9/11. His views on Islam and other issues are essentially the same as Jindal’s.

Robertson only needed about $7,000 per month from 700 believers to get his empire going. That wouldn’t cut it today, but if Jindal could get his own 700,000 club going, it would certainly be a good start for him, generating $7 million a month even at the old subscription fee of $10.

If there are approximately 55 million registered Republican voters in the U. S. [sources give varying numbers, the party was in decline in 2014], 700,000 equals slightly more than 1.2% of them. All things considered, it is not unrealistic to expect Jindal could attract a loyal following of that number, if he hasn’t already.

My point is obvious. Was my original joke a joke, or has the real joke always been on us? In other words, have we mistaken a coldly calculated prosperity plan for tomfoolery aimed at genuine Presidential aspirations?

Like this:

Related

20 Responses

This tends to support the claim that Jindal is the new David Duke, in that he will make a living off of mailing lists and contributions of suckers. Unfortunately, there are enough suckers to go around to keep charlatans in the high life until they get caught, like Duke. Even then, after doing their time, they return unrepentant and get back in the game.

Oh dear, Mr. Winham – between your post and Lamar’s ever-insightful Salon article, I realize that we have been skillfully hornswaggled by two of the greatest miracle workers who have walked this earth in the past 2000 years. Call Teepell a Richelieu or a Borman, he is the power behind the throne and has created and controls the figurehead. He has masterfully and successfully knitted together an unlikely alliance. Fundamentalist/evangelical Christians are not generally fond of Roman Catholics, but it seems that a significant number of evangelicals are followers of jindal. Truly a miracle.

It’s shocking that senators have to vote in secret to avoid Jindal’s retribution.

There was another story recently about a bill that would open the governor’s office to some actual public scrutiny AFTER JINDAL LEAVES OFFICE, which just goes to show how slimy this administration has been.

Bobby (Brady) Jindal has been an absolute nightmare of a governor. We can only hope that some Republican front runner doesn’t pick him as a VP. They’re always looking for some goofball sidekick to stand next to so they can look plausibly competent by comparison.

I’m betting that Jindal starts a lobbying firm that goes after Christian Right clients. He certainly can’t believe he has the juice to be President. And he adds nothing go the table as far as VP contender.

You can still get a 700 Club membership, but the lowest level is now $20 per month. Of course you are encouraged to join at the $834 per month level ($10,000/year).

I used to listen to Reverend Ike’S radio program in the early 70s and he, like Dollar, made no bones about his goals. He once told his listeners, “When I walk into TIffany’s the diamond rings jump right out of the glass cases and onto my fingers.” He sold blessing plans in varying pledge amounts. A listener once wrote him, “I am on my 5th Blessing Plan. When may I stop with the blessing plans?” He answered,, “Sister, you may stop with the blessing plans when you wish to stop being blessed.”

As David Hannum said of P. T. Barnum’s shows, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Steve, once while driving through north Louisiana late at night some 20 years ago, I tuned in to one of my old favorite rock and roll stations, KAAY in Little Rock. But it was no longer a rock station. It had changed formats to religious programming and I was fortunate enough to catch a guy called Rev. Silas Strut. He was offering tapes for sale.

I will never, as long as I live, forget two of his tapes he had on special that night: Tape No. 87, Those Satanic Smurfs and Tape No. 102, Rev. Silas Strut’s Christian weight-loss plan: Help me Jesus, the Devil Wants Me Fat.

Thank you Stephen for your analytical insight into the potential alternate scenarios that Jindal and company have no doubt considered. I feel sure that part of their main focus is how to retain and increase their income flow as it must be apparent to even the most delusional among them that election to the presidency is a pipe dream and a non-starter. I mean how “wrong-headed” is that? LOL.

And there’s this in the Advocate this morning about a prayer rally in South Carolina. The “massive” prayer rally at the LSU Assembly Center was not quite so massive as Jindal and his handlers had hoped, but you may well be right, Stephen Winham.

Email Subscription

Like what you read here? Send a free subscription to a friend or subscribe for yourself. Type in his/her email address in the square below and then click on “Sign me up!”

Join 3,408 other followers

Donate!

LouisianaVoice does not accept advertising because we insist on an independent voice. Likewise, we do not charge a subscription fee for our blog.
That is not to say we do not have expenses—lots of them. Moreover, we would love to add a reporter to provide even better coverage of the underbelly of Louisiana politics.
Your contribution would help us immensely in meeting our growing expenses. Simply click on the “Donate” button here and contribute whatever you feel appropriate.
Thank you.
Tom Aswell, Publisher

Got a tip?

Got a news lead for LouisianaVoice to investigate? Have a suggestion for a story? Your identity will never be revealed. Just send an email to louisianavoice@cox.net